The Assembly Committee on Family Law and the Senate Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules will hold a joint committee hearing Assembly Bill 991 and Senate Bill 552 today, which would change the minimum eligible age to receive family planning services from 15 to 18 for those who meet the federal poverty line.
Currently, the Medical Assistance Program provides family planning services such as basic health care, breast and cervical cancer screens, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, access to counseling for birth control issues and physical examinations. It receives 90 percent of its budget from the federal government because it is a Medicaid program and is scheduled to track over $10 million from the federal government in 2006.
Chris Taylor, political director at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, says if AB 991 is passed, it would exclude women from participating in the program, resulting in a loss of federal funding by $2.2 million in cost savings.
'We will lose millions of dollars in federal funds and are going to lose cost savings,' Taylor said. 'If we kick teens out, we would have to go back to the federal government and get it amended or a new program. And we are not sure that Washington will do that.'
Susan Armacost, legislative director of Wisconsin Right to Life, says if the bill passes, family planning clinics such as Planned Parenthood will take pregnant minors and refer them to their own abortion clinics.
State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend and a co-sponsor of the bill, says his reason for the bill is that 'it is un-American to tell a 15-year-old girl to be on birth control without her parents' knowledge.'
He said if there are organizations encouraging young people to get birth control, it is the same as encouraging them to engage in sexual activity.
'It would mean that there is no longer an encouragement for groups such as Planned Parenthood to put gals on the pill, and by doing so, encouraging them to adopt a promiscuous lifestyle,' Grothman said.
Rep. Therese Berceau, D-Madison, said the bill's proponents believe giving young people birth control pills without parents being involved is encouraging young people to have sex. She said they view AB 991 as a moral issue, however, that is not dealing with reality.
'Governor Thompson got the waiver from the federal Medicaid offices so we could do this: keep young girls off welfare, make sure they get educated, finish high school and even go on further,' Berceau said.
